Slide shipping and storing container



1969 1. A. SPEELMAN 3,463,301

SLIDE SHIPPING AND STORING CONTAINER Filed Dec. 5, 1967 2 sheets-sheet 17 6 25 /4 50 INVEN'I'OR.

IRVING A.SPEELMAN Aug. 26, 1969 A; SPEELMAN SLIDE SHIPPING AND STORINGCONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

FIG. 5 54 INV! IOR IRVING A. SPEELMAN United States Patent 3,463,301SLIDE SHIPPING AND STORING CONTAINER Irving A. Speelman, Roslyn Heights,N.Y., assignor to Propper Manufacturing Co., Inc., Long Island City,N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 688,105Int. Cl. B65d 19/02 U.S. Cl. 206-1 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acontainer having a receptacle defining a slide compartment having afirst and second pair of laterally spaced side walls for receiving saidslides for shipping in abutting face-to-face relation parallel to saidfirst pair of laterally spaced side walls, a cover removably engagedover said receptacle and slides enclosing said receptacle, and retainingmeans in said compartment for storing said slides in spaced face-to-facerelation normal to said first pair of laterally spaced side walls. Thespacing between each of said first and second pair of side wallssubstantially corresponds to the length of the slides.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally tocontainers for shipping slides which are used as a mounting for objectsto be examined under a microscope and otherwise, and containers forstorage of such slides by a user thereof. Microscope slides aregenerally formed from thin sheets of a transparent material such asglass and therefore require careful treatment during shipping andstorage. In the art, slides are generally shipped in containersreceiving the slides in contiguous face-to-face relation. The user,receiving a quantity of such slides generally transfers them to a secondcontainer adapted to hold slides in spaced face-to-face relation forstorage.

Slides are preferably stored with a space therebetween to permitgripping of single slides, as desired, by their edges. This arrangementmakes it unnecessary for a user selecting a slide to grip the slide byits face and therefore possibly contaminate it. A further reason forthis arrangement is it permits storage of slides having material mountedthereon without the danger of contamination or damage to the mountedportion, as might result if prepared slides were stored in contiguousface-to-face relation.

A container adapted to store slides in spaced face-toface relation isgenerally referred to as a slide box and is generally sold separate andapart from said slides. The known slide shipping containers are normallydisposed of upon removal of the slides. The foregoing known arrangementis both inconvenient and inefficient in that it requires the user tomake two purchases, leaving him with a generally useless shippingcontainer after the slides are removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with theinvention, a container is provided which includes a receptacle definingat least one slide compartment for receiving slides for shipment inabutting face-to-face relation parallel to a pair of laterally spacedside walls of said compartment, a cover removably engaged over saidreceptacle and slides enclosing said receptacle, and retaining meanswithin said container for storing said slides in spaced face-to-facerelation normal to the above-mentioned pair of laterally spacedcompartment side walls and parallel to a second pair of laterally spacedwalls, the spacing between each of the first and second pairs oflaterally spaced walls substantially corresponding to the length of theslides. The retaining means preferably comprises a plurality of parti-3,463,301 Patented Aug. 26, 1969 tion members disposed adjacent to eachof the said two laterally spaced compartment side walls in alignedfacing pairs so that at least some of said slides may be retainedbetween adjacent aligned facing pairs of the partition members. Thesepartition members define aligned pair of slots of a thicknesssubstantially corresponding to the thickness of the slides.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a container inwhich slides can be safely shipped and which is adapted to store slidesin spaced face-to-face relation after shipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container that permitsslides retained therein in either the shipping or storage modes to bereadily gripped for removal.

A further object of the invention is to provide a slide container forshipping and storage that includes two or more compartments each adaptedto receive slides in both the shipping and storage modes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a slide containerfor shipping and storage wherein slides are retained substantially inplace in both the shipping or storage modes despite displacement of theentire container.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part beobvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessingthe features, properties, and relation of elements which will beexemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of theinvention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of theinvention, reference is h ad to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one type of slide container for shippingand storage constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along plane 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing theslides in the shipping mode;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken along the lines 3-3 and 4-4,respectively of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the receptacle portion of thecontainer of FLIG- 1 showing the slides in the storage mode;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 7-7 of FIG.5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularlyto the drawings, the contamer '10 depicted comprises a cover 12 and areceptacle 14, each preferably formed of a single piece of moldedplastic. The receptacle 14 has a generally rectangular bottom wall 16, agenerally rectangular first pair of laterally spaced side walls 17 and18 upstanding from a pair of opposed edges of the bottom wall 16, and agenerally rectangular second pair of laterally spaced side walls 19 and20 upstanding from the other pair of bottom wall edges.

Inside dividing walls 22 and 23 upstanding from bottom wall 16, extendbetween the first pair of laterally spaced side walls 17 and 18 in aplane substantially parallel to the second pair of laterally spaced sidewalls 19 and 20. Side Wall 19, inside dividing wall 2 and the portionsof side walls 17 and 18 therebetween define compartment 24 while sidewall 20, inside dividing wall 23 and the portions of Side walls 17 and18 therebetween define com partment 25. Within compartments 24 and 25and spaced along side walls 17 and 18 respectively in aligned facingpairs are partition members 28. One of each aligned facing pair ofpartition members extends from side wall 17 in a plane normal thereto toinner face 30 while the other partition member of an aligned facing pairextends in the same plane from side wall 18 to inner face 31. Innerfaces 30 and 31 define planes substantially parallel to side walls 17and 18 respectively. Adjacent aligned facing pairs of partition members28 define slots 32 therebetween.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 2-4, slides 34 are depicted inthe shipping mode. In that mode, the slides are disposed withincompartments 24 and 25 in contiguous face-to-face relation between innerfaces 30 and 31 of partition members 28. The slides are disposedsubstantially parallel to the first pair of laterally spaced side walls17 and '18.

In FIGS. -7, the slides 34 are shown after transfer to the storage modewherein they are disposed in slots 32 between adjacent aligned facingpairs of partition members 28. In this mode, the slides aresubstantially normal to the first pair of laterally spaced side walls 17and 18.

Accordingly, during storage the slides 34 are aligned in a positionnormal to the position of slides disposed in the shipping mode.

The area 36 defined by inside divider walls 22 and 23 is provided forstorage of additional slides or such other objects as the user desires.The side walls 17, 18, 19 and 20 preferably extend upwardly to a heightbelow the height of the slides to be received therein to permit theedges of the slides to be gripped for removal.

The cover 12 is of generally rectangular configuration,

including a generally rectangular top wall 40 and generally rectangularside walls 42 depending from the edges of the top wall. The top edges ofrectangular side walls 17, 18, 19 and 20 are formed with an outwardlyfacing step 38 adapted to receive and frictionally engage acorresponding inwardly facing step formed on the bottom edges of coverside walls 42. The cover 12 is adapted to protectively enclose theslides 34 when said slides are disposed in either the storage orshipping modes. Any suitable sealing means, such as tear tape, or thelike, may be provided to secure the cover 12 in closed relation on thereceptacle '14 during shipment. In this condition, the assembly servesas a highly protective shipping container.

Upon reaching the user after shipment, the slides may be removed asneeded. After compartment 24 or 25 is emptied of slides in the shippingmode, the compartment can receive slides placed in slots 32 betweenadjacent pairs of facing partition members 28. In this position, theslides are retained in spaced face-to-face relation for storage.

One standard type of microscope slide is of substantially rectangularshape being about 3 inches long by 1 inch wide and 1 mm. (about 0.394inch) thick. Such slides are normally sold in one-half gross lots. Aslide storage and shipping container according to the invention adaptedto receive such slides may be formed with compartment 24 having insidedivider wall 22 spaced about 3.031 inches from side wall 19 and sidewalls 17 and 18 being spaced about 3.016 inches apart. If partitionmembers 28 extend respectively 0.075 inch from side walls 17 and 18, theplanes defined by inner faces 30 and 31 of said partition members wouldbe spaced about 2.866 inches apart. One-half gross of 1 mm. thickmicroscope slides can be securely received between inner faces 30 and 31of partition members 28 for shipping. A second one-half gross of suchslides may be received in compartment 25 which is preferably of the samesize as compartment 24.

The walls of compartments 24 and 25 are clearly spaced so as to receivethe 3 inch long slides in both the shipping and storage modes. The spacebetween these walls is slightly larger than 3 inches to allow for slightvariations in the length of slides and to facilitate the insertion ofslides by the user by permitting insertion of slides held slightly outof alignment with the side walls. However, the walls of each compartmentare so spaced as to prevent substantial longitudinal displacement of theslides in response to displacement of the container, the spacingsubstantially corresponding to the length of the slides.

In the preferred embodiment described above, each compartment would holdless than one-half gross of 1 mm. thick slides in the storage mode. Thethickness of the slots 32 substantially correspond to the thickness ofthe slides. Accordingly, the precise number of slides that can beretained in each compartment in the storage mode depends on the spacethat is desired between each of the slides. This in turn is determinedby the thickness of the partition members 28.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawingshas two compartments 24 and 25 and an additional storage area 36therebetween, other arrangements according to the invention arepossible. Accordingly, a slide shipping and storage container could beformed with only one compartment or more than two compartments each ofsuch compartments being substantially indentical to compartment 24 ofthe preferred embodiment. A single compartment could be difined entirelyby the side walls of the receptacle, while further partitions betweenappropriately spaced side walls could define a plurality of compartmentsas desired. A slide shipping and storage container according to theinvention can be formed with or without the additional storage area 36as desired.

Still a further single compartment embodiment may include side walls 19and 20 spaced sutficiently to accommodate the full one-helf gross of 1mm. thick slides in the spaced face-to-face relation of the storagemode. This embodiment may be provided with a removable partition engagedin one pair of facing slots 32 between adjacent aligned facing pairs ofpartition members and spaced from side wall 19 or 20 to preventlongitudinal displacement of slides during the shipping mode.Accordingly, such a removable partition would define a compartmentcorresponding to compartment 24 and 25 of the preferred embodiment.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efiiciently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Iclaim:

1. A container for shipping and storing a plurality of slides comprisinga receptacle portion and a mating cover portion, said receptacle portionhaving a first and second pair of laterally spaced side walls and atleast one inside dividing wall extending from one of said first pair ofside walls to the other and spaced from and parallel to said second pairof receptacle side walls and forming first and second compartments, thespacing between said inside dividing wall and one of said second pair ofside walls, and said first pair of side walls substantiallycorresponding to the length of the slides, said first pair of side wallshaving retaining means extending therealong and projecting into saidcompartments to define aligned pairs of slots of a thicknesssubstantially corresponding to the thickness of the slides, the slidesbeing received in abutting face-to-face relation parallel to said firstpair of side walls and between said inside dividing wall and said one ofsaid second pair of side walls in the shipping condition thereof, and inlaterally face-to-face relation in said slots and normal to said firstpair of side walls and parallel to said second pair of side walls in thestorage condition thereof.

2. A container for shipping and storing a plurality of slides as recitedin claim 1, wherein said second pair of side walls are spaced to permitthe storage of at least all of the slides accommodated in the shippingcondition thereof.

3. A container for shipping and storing a plurality of slides as recitedin claim 1, including at least two spaced inside dividing wallsextending between said first pair of receptacle side walls and spacedfrom and parallel to said second pair of receptacle side walls, saidretaining means extending only'along the portions of said first pair ofreceptacle side walls between each of said inside dividing walls and thefacing second side wall, said first and second inside dividing wallsdefiining an additional storage area.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Mills 206-73 Sutton 206-72 Tall206-62 Brokop 206-72 X Asnes et al. 206-62 Jenkins 206-62 US. Cl. X.R.

